DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 604 KB)
If a Host Tells a Guest to Leave

The Gemara says, "Do anything a host tell you to do, except leave." A guest is obliged to obey his host, unless his host tells him to leave the home.

The commentators raise the question of why a guest is entitled to remain in someone’s home against the host’s will. Seemingly, a host reserves the right to tell his guest to leave. How can we explain the Gemara’s comment?

The Sefat Emet (Rav Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger, 1847-1905) explains that this provision was made in response to the tragic incident of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa, which the Gemara relates in Masechet Gittin. An invitation intended for Kamsa was mistakenly delivered to Bar Kamsa, and when Bar Kamsa arrived at the party, the host forced him to leave. Bar Kamsa was very embarrassed, and decided to avenge his disgrace by going to the Roman emperor and telling him that the Jews rebelled against him, ultimately causing the destruction of Jerusalem. In response, the Sages enacted this provision that if somebody comes to a function to which he was not invited, he should not be told to leave. And if the host tells him to leave, he does not have to listen.

Thus, if a person, for whatever reason, attends a function uninvited, the host should not embarrass him by telling him to leave. We should learn the lesson taught by the tragedy of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa, and ensure not to embarrass a fellow Jew, even in a case of an uninvited guest.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
If One Forgot to Recite Al Ha’nissim in Birkat Ha’mazon on Purim
Purim- Does One Fulfill the Misva of Mishloah Manot by Giving an Anonymous Package?
Purim – Must One Unroll the Megila Before the Reading?
The Special Torah Reading for Shabbat Shekalim
Is Adar Rishon an Auspicious Month Like Adar Sheni?
Purim- Halachot Concerning the Writing of Megilat Ester
Purim – Should Mishlo’ah Manot be Given Personally or Through a Messenger?
Purim – Sending a Beverage as Mishlo’ah Manot
Purim – May Men Dress Up as Women, or Vice Versa, on Purim?
Purim – May One Eat or Drink Before Hearing the Megila?
Working on Purim
Purim- Laws of Fasting: Rinsing One’s Mouth, Brushing One’s Teeth, Chewing Gum, and Swallowing Pills
The Zachor Reading
Purim – One Who Causes Damage as a Result of the Purim Festivities; Weddings on Purim
The Power of Shema and the Purim Story
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found